Shane Duffy

Shane Patrick Michael Duffy (born 1 January 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for EFL Championship club Norwich City and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Duffy came through the youth academy at Everton, where he completed his development after being promoted into the senior squad, spending most of his time at the club out on loan.

He joined Blackburn Rovers in 2014 for an undisclosed fee, spending two years with the Lancashire club before moving to Brighton & Hove Albion in 2016, where he earned promotion to the Premier League.

[6] He represented Northern Ireland at under 16 level in the 2007 Victory Shield tournament and impressed Everton manager David Moyes in a performance at Bloomfield Road against England.

[4][7] Manager David Moyes named him and several young players in the first team for the pre-season friendlies and Duffy scored his first Everton goal against Rochdale in a 4–0 victory.

[4][9] At the age of 17, he made his professional debut versus AEK Athens in the UEFA Europa League in December 2009, coming on for the injured Sylvain Distin.

[10] In Everton's next European fixture, Duffy made his home debut at Goodison Park, completing the full 90 minutes against BATE Borisov, making his second and last appearances for the side in the 2009–10 season.

[15] After being recalled from his loan spell at Scunthorpe United, Duffy made his Premier League debut at White Hart Lane on 11 January 2012, coming on as a substitute for the final 30 minutes in a 2–0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

[16] With Everton's regular centre-backs, Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka, injured for the next game three days later, Duffy made the first Premier League start of his career in a 1–1 draw with Aston Villa.

[37] He made a total of 19 appearances for the Iron before his parent club recalled him on 5 January 2012, due to an injury to Phil Jagielka, Everton's regular centre-back.

[70] Earlier the same day, it had been reported by The Mirror that the transfer cost the Seagulls a club record fee of £4 million, after turning down an extension to his contract at Blackburn Rovers.

"[89] On 4 May 2018, Duffy helped Brighton keep a clean sheet and beat Manchester United 1–0 at home to secure their Premier League status.

[95] In the next league game against rivals Crystal Palace, Duffy was shown a straight red card for head butting Patrick van Aanholt.

[100] Duffy played in 5 FA Cup games, as Brighton made it to the semi-final at Wembley, where they were knocked out by the eventual champions, Manchester City.

[102] On 27 April 2019, Duffy featured in the 1–1 home draw against Newcastle, helping the Seagulls secure a vital point in Brighton's relegation battle against Cardiff.

[109] Duffy made his first EFL Cup appearance for the Sussex club on 25 September 2019, captaining the heavily rotated side — with an average age of just over 21 — to a 3–1 home loss to Aston Villa.

[111] Throughout Graham Potter's first season, Duffy's playing time fell due to extra competition in defense in the form of new signing Adam Webster, who consistently kept him out of the starting 11.

[121] With speculation about Duffy's future with The Seagulls during pre-season ahead of the 2021–22 campaign, Graham Potter told The Argus that he had done "really well" since his return from Celtic.

[130] On 9 June 2023, Duffy signed for Championship club Norwich City, as a free transfer on a three-year deal, effective 1 July 2023.

[133] An U17 regular, he was in the squad for their unsuccessful 2009 European Championship qualifying campaign and scored the only goal of the match, a penalty, in the opening game against Liechtenstein.

[144] Although it was expected to take a number of months for him to recuperate and regain his fitness, Duffy returned to action in little over ten weeks after his injury and has appeared for Republic of Ireland under-19 and under-21 squads throughout 2010.

[151] Although Duffy's name is often linked with this dispute and the IFA appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, his situation differs from that of players such as Darron Gibson because of his close family ties to County Donegal.

On 13 February 2012, less than two years after sustaining a life-threatening injury, Duffy received a call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad, replacing the injured Richard Dunne.

[155] Duffy received his next call-up on 9 May 2014 when he was included in the 32-man provisional squad ahead of friendlies against Turkey, Italy, Costa Rica and Portugal.

[157] Two years later, he made his second appearance for Ireland against Switzerland, winning the Man of the Match award, setting up Ciaran Clark for the only goal of the game.

[160] In the final group game of the tournament Duffy came into the team and a heroic performance helped secure an historic victory against Italy to propel the Republic of Ireland into the last sixteen.

[166] He retained the captaincy in Stephen Kenny's first game in charge of Ireland on 3 September 2020, scoring with an injury time header in the 1–1 draw with Bulgaria in the UEFA Nations League.

[167] Duffy made his 50th appearance for the Republic of Ireland on 11 November 2021, helping keep a clean sheet in the goalless 2022 World Cup qualifier tie at home against Portugal.

[168] Three days and one cap later, Duffy scored the opening goal, a header from a free kick, in an eventual 3–0 away win over Luxembourg, coming in the dead rubber World Cup qualifier.

[177] In 2024, prior to Norwich City's play-off semi-final fixture against Leeds United, Duffy was arrested and subsequently charged with "driving while unfit through drink" after an alleged incident in Hethersett, Norfolk, close to his home.

Duffy (left) in action for Everton against Christy Fagan in a pre-season friendly away at Bohemians in 2011.
Duffy playing for Everton in 2011.
Duffy playing for Brighton & Hove Albion in 2017.
Duffy training for Brighton and Hove Albion ahead of a friendly match against FC Nantes .